CONCERNING S. ALEXANDER, MARTYR.
Under Decius.
CommentaryAlexander, Martyr (S.)
From various sources.
[1] He has been inserted into the Roman Martyrology by Baronius, with this eulogy: Likewise, of Blessed Alexander, who, seized in the persecution of Decius, resplendent in the venerable hoariness of old age and in his repeated confession, rendered up his spirit amid the torments of the executioners. The birthday of S. Alexander the Martyr. Whence he drew this he indicates in his Notes: Of whom, he says, Bede treats at length on this day, and also Ado, and the ancient manuscripts agree. Moreover, this Alexander is far other than that Bishop of Jerusalem, of whom the same authors write on 18 March. The words of Ado and the Vulgate Bede are: Likewise, of Blessed Alexander. He, in the Decian persecution, was brought before the judges for the confession of the faith, and committed to the chains of prison. Who, resplendent in the venerable hoariness of advanced age, after he had frequently glorified the Lord by his sufferings and torments, when he was called from chains to tribunals and from tribunals recalled to chains, rested with a blessed end amid the torments alternately succeeding one another.
[2] Canisius has the same: the Carthusians of Cologne in their additions to Usuard have the same; but they note that he seems to them the same who is venerated on 18 March: On the same day, according to Ado, they say, of Blessed Alexander. He in the Decian, etc. and then: Whether he is the same who is venerated on 18 March? He seems to be the one whom Usuard places on 15 March. That was perhaps the reason why, having recorded him on this day in his first edition, Molanus omitted him in the later ones. Expressly the same identification is made in the Martyrologies titled with the name of Usuard but amplified here and there: those of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp, of the monastery of Alberg, of the House of S. Paul at Utrecht: Likewise, at Jerusalem, of Blessed Alexander the Bishop: who, in the Decian persecution, was brought before the judge for the confession of the faith, and committed to chains; who, resplendent in the venerable hoariness of advanced age, after he had frequently glorified the Lord by his sufferings, dragged now from tribunals to chains, now from chains to tribunals, rested with a blessed end amid the torments alternately succeeding one another. The Martyrology of Cologne has the same; the same, but somewhat more briefly, the manuscript Martyrology of the Church of Brussels. Maurolycus also: At Jerusalem, of Alexander, an aged Bishop and Martyr under Decius. The manuscript Florarium: At Jerusalem, the birthday, or translation, of Blessed Alexander, Bishop and Martyr, in the Decian persecution.
[3] We too indeed incline to the opinion that he is the same; but we do not wish without manifest reason to dissent from the judgment of Baronius, a very great man; especially since there are also manuscripts which simply call him a Martyr, not a Bishop. The manuscript of S. Lambert of Liege: Likewise, of Blessed Alexander the Martyr. The manuscript of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp, and the manuscript of Centula: On the same day, the passion of Blessed Alexander the Martyr. The manuscript of S. Mary of Utrecht: Likewise, of Blessed Alexander the Martyr, who suffered in the time of Decius. Galesinius also: On the same day, S. Alexander. He, under the Emperor Decius, was cast into chains for the faith, and when he was led back and forth from prison to tribunal, rendering glory to God amid the very torments, being very old, he rested in the Lord. He certainly suffered the same things. Otherwise, what Eusebius relates concerning the confession of S. Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem, in book 6 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 32, and we from him on 18 March, are identical.